Abstract—Earthmoving operations and highway construction commonly entails extensive utilization of heavy construction equipment. Various factors affect directly and indirectly the efficient utilization of equipment and subsequently can lead to productivity decline in earthmoving operations. Efficient utilization of equipment is considered a crucial element towards the success of earthmoving project. This paper utilizes questionnaire-based method to investigate the factors that affect efficient utilization of hauling equipment including; fuel consumption, hauling and access roads conditions, labor, and soil properties. The paper presents a fuzzy-set based evaluation framework that is used for assessment and prioritization of the factors being considered. Output of the proposed framework provides early warning that highlights the underlying issues related to the efficient utilization of hauling equipment in earthmoving operations. This early warning is expected to assist owners and contractors to take proactive decisions instead of reactive ones in a manner that maximizes the efficient utilization of equipment. Finally, conclusions are drawn highlighting best practice recommendations that may assist owners and contractors not only in avoiding productivity losses, but also in efficient delivery of earthmoving projects. Index Terms—Earthmoving, hauling equipment, fuzzy set theory, highway construction, productivity assessment. I. INTRODUCTION Earthmoving is a key and crucial process in most of infrastructure projects. Earthmoving operations represent a considerable portion of civil infrastructure projects such as highways, mines, and dams [1]. Soil is usually moved from a location, in case where it exceeds the required quantities, and carried to another location to be dumped or used as filling materials. The topological survey coupled with the construction of a new highway indicates a number of locations where cuts or fills are required. However, the surplus soil should be stored in an accessible area to be used if required otherwise; the remaining part of surplus soil is transported and dumped in remote area [2]. As the earthmoving operations are common and crucial in civil infrastructure projects, many endeavors have been done to improve these operations. Productivity of Manuscript received May 7, 2016; revised August 8, 2016. A. Salem, A. Salah, and O. Moselhi are with the Department of Building Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University Montreal, Canada (Corresponding author: A. Salem; tel.: 438-402-2367; e-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]). M. Ibrahim is with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of Waterloo, ON, Canada (e-mail: [email protected]). earthmoving operations has been studied considerably over decades. Various factors affect the productivity of hauling equipment that has vital role in success of earthmoving operations. Contractors utilize heavy construction equipment in earthmoving operations and road construction. Economic utilization of these equipment has a great impact on the contractor’s profitability. Several factors can impact the productivity and cost of earthmoving operations such as; equipment utilization, fuel consumption, labor, and soil properties. II. LITERATURE REVIEW Heavy construction equipment (e.g. loaders, excavators, hauling trucks) has a significant role in earthmoving operations. Performance of equipment productivity reflects the whole project performance. Productivity is defined as the total output from the entire fleet. However, only examining the productivity is unsatisfactory for assessing the performance of an operation [3], extensive analysis is required to identify the different factors that could affect the productivity and its performance. Such extensive analysis comprises collection and analysis of data concerning the performance of equipment. Most of equipment-based researches considered fleet selection, analysis of equipment performance and productivity assessment. However, lack in identification and evaluation of equipment-based factors that can affect the productivity in earthmoving operations [4], [5] and [6]. Reference [4] presented a method for equipment fleet selection for earthmoving operations using computer model “FLSELECTOR” that utilizes the queuing theory. The advancement in computers and sensing technology encouraged the utilization of different types of sensors for tracking construction equipment and acquiring the required data for analysis [5]. Another study [6] developed an automatic spatio-temporal analysis of construction site equipment operations using a low price commercial GPS data logger for continuous capturing of equipment location. Reference [7] introduced a tool for stochastic forecasting of productivity of earthmoving operations considering uncertainty using GPS/GIS technology to automate site data acquisition that assists in forecasting activity future performance using discreet event simulation (DES). Reference [5] developed an automated system for assessing the actual productivity of earthmoving operations in near real-time environment using latest advances in sensing technologies such as: microcontroller, GPS and different types of sensors and Bluetooth wireless communication. Reference [8] Presented a Bluetooth proximity detection and Study of Factors Influencing Productivity of Hauling Equipment in Earthmoving Projects using Fuzzy Set Theory A. Salem, A. Salah, M. Ibrahim, and O. Moselhi International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, Vol. 8, No. 2, April 2017 151 doi: 10.18178/ijimt.2017.8.2.719
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Abstract—Earthmoving operations and highway
construction commonly entails extensive utilization of heavy
construction equipment. Various factors affect directly and
indirectly the efficient utilization of equipment and
subsequently can lead to productivity decline in earthmoving
operations. Efficient utilization of equipment is considered a
crucial element towards the success of earthmoving project.
This paper utilizes questionnaire-based method to investigate
the factors that affect efficient utilization of hauling equipment
including; fuel consumption, hauling and access roads
conditions, labor, and soil properties. The paper presents a
fuzzy-set based evaluation framework that is used for
assessment and prioritization of the factors being considered.
Output of the proposed framework provides early warning that
highlights the underlying issues related to the efficient
utilization of hauling equipment in earthmoving operations.
This early warning is expected to assist owners and contractors
to take proactive decisions instead of reactive ones in a manner
that maximizes the efficient utilization of equipment. Finally,
conclusions are drawn highlighting best practice
recommendations that may assist owners and contractors not
only in avoiding productivity losses, but also in efficient delivery
of earthmoving projects.
Index Terms—Earthmoving, hauling equipment, fuzzy set